A little conclude, but not the end.

Time really files. I can hardly realize I used almost 2 months to maintain the visibility of the weblog......It really take efforts to produce an interesting blog. As I am apt to the mode of social networking, it seems that blogging no longer have the attracting features that can catch my attention. And yet, this exercise again boosted my interest in creating my 'little world' through online blogging.
Actually, it took a few times for me to check before I post a new post. Due to my intention to control the quality of blogs, I do not want my ideas being ruined by poor presentation. And I think good experience of blogging starts with respect and honesty. Therefore, I procrastinate a lot on the creation of content and layout.

Different from the time when I use Xanga, I used multimedia elements to compose my posts. That can enrich my contents, as well as making the blogging atmosphere less intense. What's more, that allows me to catch the attention from other students too. Anyone needs attention. It is even more important for bloggers to get attention from other people. This is definately a reason for me to continue the weblog.

This is the link to a sample post and reason for choosing it:
http://ge2216tiffany.blogspot.com/2011/09/refection-on-session-3.html
I have emerged my experience in creating web layouts in the post with the reflections on the theories I have learnt on that lesson. I also include little images and a hyperlink to demonstrate the effects of different layouts. This post is a start for me to explore in the topic of Multimodality.

Links to blogs that I have commented on in the course of the semester:

http://ge2216ashleyleong.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-things-just-changed-and-when-you.html#comments
http://ge2216ashleyleong.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-digital-life_7688.html#comments
http://ge2216myo.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-digital-life.html#comments
http://ge2216myo.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-i-learnt-and-how-i-will-apply.html#comments
http://ge2216annie.blogspot.com/2011/10/online-communication-in-pigg-world.html#comments
http://ge2216annie.blogspot.com/2011/09/reflection-on-lession-3.html#comments


Hope I will continue the building of my 'little world' here.

Blogging as an online culture

According to my own interpretation, blog is an online platform that allows others to view one's opinions and exchange ideas. It is just a mini community that people who are interested in certain topic "to gather together".


I like the diversify environment that blogging provides, as blogs are often being classified into several categories, like sports, arts & crafts, etc. Bloggers can feel free to post any reflective comments on each category.  Ideas can be transmitted in light speed through this effective tool. Yet, if bloggers tend to spread rumors, it could be a disaster. Just like the issue that some Chinese believe the online information of  consuming large amount of salt can help to prevent the radioactive materials coming from Japan after the earthquake. All chaos are just created by signal post. Therefore we must keep our minds clear to distingush the credibility of information provided by blogs.


Besides, blogs can bridge different generations and nationalities together. It is true that bloggers with different background can have an equal opportunity to share their views, provided that they have free and stable internet connections. Blog can be one of the medium for disabilities to find their position within the community.


Blogs can extend the normal interactions between people by provding different functions, like subscription and feeds. These often attract me to step into my friend's little world, so I can know the invisible/ pretending sides if them. It is interesting to do so. And our views of world can be expanded by the exploration of anynomous weblogs.

http://www.xanga.com/explore/recentupdates/

Attention!

In this era, many Y and Z generations are competent in managing different duties at the same time, just like a super computer.

Picture bystoneysteiner

I get shocked when I know some friends who can listening to music, having phone call, chatting in MSN, viewing Youtube, as well as doing an assignment in 'real-time'. I wonder if they can manage that much, and it must take longer time for them to finish that assignment. What's more, I have experienced that the quality of assignments can be affected by the intensity of distraction from other unnecessary 'nosy actions', such as browsing Facebook. It's true to say that it is the curiosity and the desire of getting involved that increase amount of distractions. There are more people wanted to be noticed, especially teenagers, as they found this is the best way to express themselves without hesitation.

It's not rare to see people on MTR, on street, in restaurant or in any locations, take out their electronic devices and use. Is it they value 'time' so much, thus putting several stuffs to do together? Or they are just controlled by these devices? It is important to think our intention to do so much things at a time. Indeed, we get stressed when workload is too much, and that can degrade our performances. Here's a video that demonstrate some problems of 'over-multitasking':

Thus it is our plan and determination that affect the quality of multitasking.

Reflection on session 3

After the lesson on 'Multimodality', I have learnt about the importance of visual elements on websites. I experienced that the design of layout and appearance of web page really affect the whole so much. When I have to set up a website by Dreamweaver in secondary school, I concerned on the user-interface so much. I want it to be more attractive, so as to leave good impression on users. It really took time to decide a good colour scheme, layout, even the typeface. And yet, the finalized product is a bit simple:

Compare to Online webpage compose tool, it is much similar. Take blogging sites as example, they always provide predefined layouts for users to choose. Or you can make your own schemes in a few minutes by the tools they provided. And this is my xanga blog:

http://cinnamoroll302003.xanga.com/

I believe colour and arrangement of webpage really matter. I think it is better to use HTML or other web languages to make webpages. When having layout making with Photoshop, I  got messed up with diversities in postioning of words and fixed background image. And that could spent me a long time to settle.

What's more, I would like to add interactivity to my future webpage design. I think the viewers can absorb the contents more throughly by having some communications  with the site, a small flash application will be good. So the users can be impressed by the elements in dynamic webpage, and may immerse into the unique 'site-world' that I created. It is almost in game-like atmosphere.

Although I am not confident with web-making tools, I will try to learn how to use HTML or other web languages to define a nice webpage.

A picture that I like

This picture is by in pastel. I love the lace patterns in this card and it reveals the dreamy vintage style that girls would like. I appreciate its layering are hand-made, which make it a valuable and detail-made card. The one who receive it must feel the wishes from the sender. Can you see the hidden angel there? It is so cute and make this whole picture a pure feeling.

My digital life

Hello, world! Here is my first post in this blog. :D
Actually it has been a long time for me not writing any formal piece on web… I am a bit frustrated about the things I wrote, whether it is suitable or not. Please forgive me if I am off-topic…(><”)   

I believe I’m a ‘digital native’ as suggested by Prensky. I have tried most form of digital tools and find them completely matched with my life.  Most frequent tool that I use is the Facebook. It is not suprise that people at all ages, especially teenagers, use this platform intensively as it provides numerous opportunities that connect people. For me, it seems like a free-of-charge super social connector. It is so convenient all friends will notice your actions when I click a button. But that also reminds me the importance of privacy and appropriateness of comments. And yet, it is curiosity of people that start up the trend.

Another communication tools that I use frequently are the email and MSN messager.  They are the essential part of my daily life. For email, it is an important channel for me to keep in touch with all people I know. If I don't view the webmail of my university frequently, I could probably miss the lessons due to change of venues and time. Thus It is vital to view the mailbox everyday. I use MSN as intent chatting tool with friends. I think it's a great invention for the web-enabled MSN attached within hotmail. As I don't need to open the MSN messager and hotmail with separate windows, how lazy am I! :P

Is forum considered as a type of digital tool? If yes, I also like to keep wandering around the forums and leave comments......I think it's a fabulous place for people with same interest to share their thoughts within a topic. This is one of the forum that I always browse: www.Uwants.com  (OK, I have said enough. There are also other tools that I have not told but I think it would take 1 more day to complete the post...)

Then, what I would like to learn on this course is how languages being changed after the invention of digital tools. It would be interesting to see what kinds are 'new languages' and how they change the communication between people.